Repeatable movements: how to relocate an entire tower crane

Relocating an entire tower crane on a site in one piece is not unknown. What’s new and different is using a system suitable for all sorts of tower crane rather than needing a specifically engineered solution on a one-off basis.

Select Plant in the UK worked with tower crane manufacturer Raimondi’s Terex TC division and Europa Engineering to develop a lifting frame allowing an entire tower crane to be lifted and relocated as a single unit.

Detail of the steel lifting frame bolted, not welded to the tower crane beneath the slew ring. Photo: Select Plant

It means the tower crane does not need to be dismantled, moved and re-erected using a large wheeled mobile crane. The first relocation with the new lifting frame was done at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station construction project in the south west of the UK. A 5,000 tonne capacity crane available on site meant the whole thing was possible and made it a practical proposition.

Developed to improve the efficiency of full tower crane relocation operations, this new design eliminates the need for traditional welded lifting arrangements, providing a safer, more efficient and repeatable solution for complex lifting projects, Select said.

Big lifter

Big Carl dwarfs the Terex tower crane which weighed 140 tonnes. Photo: Select Plant

Select’s CTL430-24 luffing jib Terex tower crane being moved weighed 140 tonnes. It was carried 165 metres across the site by Big Carl, the Sarens SGC-250 super heavy lift ring crane. It quickly helped preparations for the next phase of construction.

Bolted connections attach the new frame to the underside of the tower crane’s slewing ring. No site welding is required which also helps make it easier to re-use the frame as a more easily repeatable operation.

Installation takes less than two hours and can be done by the tower crane itself so no other crane is needed. Interchangeable adapter plates allow the frame to be fitted on any one of five models in Select’s fleet.

Multiple full crane lifts have been carried out and more are planned, Select said.

“This achievement demonstrates the value of collaboration in delivering innovative solutions to industry challenges while supporting the safe and efficient delivery of major infrastructure projects,” Select said.

See a video of the operation.

Relocating multiple tower cranes without dismantling them at HPC saves a lot of time and increases the project’s overall efficiency. Photo: Select Plant

The rigging arrangement above Select Plant’s Terex tower crane. Photo: Select Plant